I had an L4-L5 microdiscectomy a year ago, and its taken about a year for my back to get back to almost "normal". It took three months for the radiculopathy (leg pain) and numbness to resolve and six months for the fairly constant back pain to resolve. Granted, everyone's recovery is different. I wasn't released until any type of activity for three months. He initially told me it would be three weeks! Initially he told me I should never run again, but then relented if I used cushioned shoes and stayed off pavement. It took around nine months until my back felt good enough to begin running. If I had to outline a recovery program for back surgery it would be something like this: Walk as much as possible after surgery. I know it's boring especially if you're a runner, but stay active. As soon as your physician releases you, find someone to design a core workout for you. Most physical therapists have no idea what they are doing to rehab someone after back surgery. I found a Pilates instructor who had worked with professional athletes and Cirque performers in their rehab who stressed a lot of stretching and core strength--Planks, etc. Keep that program up and do core twice a week. Swim when you're able to. I had a lot of pain with twisting after surgery, and was never a great swimmer, so just started. Bike as soon as you can, but expect some lower back stiffness that will take months to resolve. I just got back on my tri bike. Start off on the trainer, and don't plan to be outside much initially. For running the best advice I would give you is buy a pair of Hokas, and run on the treadmill, golf course or trail. There's been a number of threads on this over the past year or two. Do a search and get others ideas.

Hi, I'm pretty much in your boat except I don't think I'm going to have surgery. What made you decide to have surgery? I mean my pain isn't that bad...3-4 out of 10 on pain scale. I have good days and bad days. I've been swimming and doing a lot if core work. Haven't ran for 6 weeks now. Good luck to you. Thanks

I had tried PT, had three rounds of steroid epidural injections, and nothing was making a difference. I could not put my own socks on in the morning, and was unable to really function as I needed to. There was no way i could swim, bike or run as the pain was too severe. I also have two boys aged 3 & 6 who I want to be active with as I was before. I had given the non invasive treatments a try, saw two surgeons who recommended the same procedure, did a bunch of reading and decided surgery was the way for my case to go.

Thanks. I saw a surgeon and he recommended not to have surgery since my pain level is low but he saw the MRI first and thought from the images that I would need it. I wish you the best. Did you an extrusion in your disc or bulging?

Sorry I don't have anything brilliant to add other than sorry for your injury and I had sciatica for 3 solid months. The inverted table is helping, good running posture is key to maintain and if there is room, and there's always room, to try and get even lighter than you are, I think that will be noticeable when you're healthy enough to get back at it. Good luck, it is no fun.

I had a herniated disc and some significant degeneration in the l5s1 area. Very clear on the MRI that that disc was different to all the rest. I am almost 40 and have never had any significant injury like this in all my sporting life. Played soccer growing up through college (I am from England but live in the US now) and then got into endurance sports in my late twenties. I am definately going to need to look after myself better as I recover from this. I was never one to have a good stretching regimen but I know that needs to change. Reading more about pilates and yoga and will need to look after my body a little more than I did previously. Want to be able to play with my kids as they grow up and that is the primary focus rather than any sporting event, although races still have a place in my plans.
I am determined to rehab right and plan long term health wise, do the right things and get healthy again. As you said, its no fun!

Read this book. It will change your life. I had a microdiskectomy and felt little relief after the surgery until I started practicing this. Now I swim, bike, and run like I was never injured at all.

http://foundationtraining.com/store

I have absolutely no affiliation with these authors, or this company. Just a very happy customer that got his life back thanks to these simple practices.

P.S. these exercises are quickly becoming mandatory among many professional cycling teams such as Garmin Sharp and others.

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"Wait.....and Hope" -Edmond Dantes

How does this book and training work with Stuart Mcgill's advice and book?

I would recommend finding a McKenzie Trained MDT certified Physical Therapist. You can go to their website to help you locate. If you currently have "sciatica" you should chat with your MD soon about how soon you can go and why (if he wants you to wait). I am a PT and do not see any reason why you cannot return to some activities soon if treated properly. The key is not to let the disc herniate again with everyday activities and let a scar form to help you. In addition you'll need to stabilize your core and improve hip mobility. It's unfortunate that others have not had as good of an outcome as they should have.

Don't worry, take it easy! There are various threads on this... trust me, I sought ST advice after my surgery. I had a dual-level emergency microdiscectomy and laminectomy (L5-S1, L4-L5) last August. Here's a breakdown:

-had sudden sciatic nerve pain in February/March 2012
-did PT 3x/s per week, chiropractor 2x's/week, and had three epidural shots from March through July (plus many MRI's)
-raced two Oly's and one 70.3 in June and July
-the day after the 70.3 my right leg failed while getting out of bed and I fell to the ground (embarrassing!)
-less then a week later I had the two-hour surgery and was walking that evening
-it took about 3-4 weeks for the residual pain in my nerves to go away (I took no painkillers, but that's just me)
-I was taking "long" walks about three weeks after
-was on the bike trainer 5-6 weeks after (not in the tuck)
-did my first running race the first week in January 2013
-by May/June 2013 I was back to 100%
-I've done 3 bike races, two running races, and two 70.3's so far this year

I'm not going to give you advice other than to take it easy. Chances are, your racing season is over. I sacrificed the second half of my 2012 racing season in order to repair and recover as fluidly as possible. That was hard, but I'm very glad I did that because things are feeling great now and I'm hitting this season hard. In fact I PR'd my 70.3 time by 8 minutes this June! Feel free to PM me if you want to discuss more. Good luck!

edit: I do have some advice... if you work at a desk, try and get a stand-up desk. I think that helped me in my recovery.

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-Eric
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"The Fit Shall Inherit the Earth" -Endurance Conspiracy

I am on day 3 post operation myself, had bulging disc L3/4 and L5/S1, extruding disc L4/5, had L 4/5 Discectomy, surgeon found my broken disc was calcified as well as the broken pieces, some were on my nerve, I got into triathlons 4 years ago, about 4-5 times a year I felt a pain in the back and lower left abs, foot numbness on most bike rides and very erractic power on the bike, just couldn't seem to push the peddles the way that I really should have been, some rides pretty good, others very bad.. this past May 11th, got off the bike at Kinetic 1/2 distance, left foot totally numb(a first), numbness was usually in the toe area.. the following Friday from the race the pain I would get 4-5 times a year was there every day.. got MRI which revealed my issues, got 2 epidurals which after would have done nothing with the calcified disc, then upon seeing my 4th or so doctor had surgery, couple surgeons early on just told me to completely stop swimming, biking and running, they weren't concerned with my goals as a athlete just concerned with what they thought I should do, last surgeon I went in and said this is my goal, I want to race 70.3's and ironman, how to do I get there, surgery this past weds and now im just walking and taking this slowly, was told I can swim/bike in 6 weeks, run in 10-12 weeks, all pending how things go here. will start rehab at week 2.. right now just pain in the surgery area, not fun but "it is what it is"

Must be the season, I had bilateral discectomies at l4-l5 and l5-s1 a week ago.

Still get the occassional pain my legs, lot of incision pain too.

Kevin, you know what, I had the issue brewing and never did anything about it, I had the L 5/S1 issue from sophomore year in hs, got 2 epidurals and never had a issue with my back, went on to play football at Rutgers and wrestled 2 years there as well, when I was done playing I was at 305lbs at my heaviest, got down to about 200lbs then about 9 years after playing football got into triathlon, I think the wear and tear from football maybe set the stage and when I got into triathlon it was only that 4-5 times a year my back would act up, nothing bad then when May 17th came I could barely put socks and shoes on... not sure if it was the season or not but we sure do put some wear and tear on the body.. I am just hoping the symptoms of left foot numbness when riding and left quad pain when running is over with along of course with the back pain, I just could get from one workout to the next without pain.. very on and off power in my bike rides as well, we will see.. im hobbling around the house right now on day 3 from surgery, its going to be a rough road here but nothing we cant handle.. back to teaching in September!

I had the surgery on L4-L5 five years ago. The best advice I can give you is take it slow and listen to your physiotherapist. Personally I went back to normal training activity way too soon (about 6months post op) and was fine for about a year until the problem came back. I feel like if you focus on your swimming and cycling and just run once or twice a week you can get back to decent racing shape within a year and a half. Another relatively simple thing I did was to change the stem on my training bike so that I was sitting slightly more upright, granted you lose an areo advantage this way but if your just training it will do more help than harm to be totally pain free and a little slower than pushing through pain that can be alleviated. Best of luck!

How are you doing since your microdiscectomy? I'd like to hear about your recovery and timeline. I'm 13 weeks post microdiscectomy and having a lot of pain and stiffness. I'm doing physical therapy with stretching and core strength exercises with no relief. I'd like to get back to triathlons and marathons but am only walking now and it's terrifying to think that I may not improve. Any guidance and hope you can provide would be appreciated!

Timelines for recovery are going to vary widely. You'll read some that depress you and others that make you question your recovery.

I had a bilateral discectomy. Was on the trainer after a few weeks and running (slowly) at 12 weeks. I've dropped my running to 3-4x per week (never two days in a row) for a total of about 12-15 miles. It's not worth it to me to risk the high mileage so I have decided to stick with shorter distance races. I also only run on concrete/asphalt 1x per week. The other days are on the treadmill.

My cycling is pretty much back to normal. No problems at all in any position.

My swimming is right where it was before surgery...as bad as ever.

Be very "smart" with your recovery. I did a bit two much early on and my back "exploded" at the 2 week mark. I thought I had re-herniated but it was just a major muscle spasm. It took injections, etc. to ease the pain after that and it made me much wiser in my recovery.

Good luck.

Thanks for your comments/questions and the replies below. I am 4 wks post op from a Laminotomy Discectomy (herniated disc) in the L3/L4. Similar to others below, I had emergency surgery following a series of steroid injections which just didn't last long at all. I began having pain/numbness in my right leg thru my glute and right quad .. feeling every day like I had just done a 70.3 the day before .. and of course with out the value of the fitness .. and the medal! I did multiple sessions with my PT, Chiro and stretched like crazy with minimal relief. Over 4 months, the pain increased such I could barely work out, and had to stand for meetings as the process of standing from sitting was so painful. I travel a lot for work, and airplanes just about killed me. So far, my rehab is going well. I was back in the pool 2 wks post op, for 20 min at 50% intensity. I did the same on a spin bike. At 3 wks post op, I added 10 min, and at 4 wks post op - I added 30 min x2 weekly on the elliptical ... all at moderate intensity. I also started back with my Masters Swim team - moving from my coveted "A" lane down two notches to the "B" lane, staying with 30 min, moderate intensity, back and free only, no flip turns. (The thought of making up a t shirt with Triathlete in Rehab did occur to me). Aside from the weirdness of being with "normal" people who work out mid-am at my local Ymca, I worked out a exercise program with my local PT (who is a 5x IM) which includes core and stability exercises which I do 3x weekly. So far so good. I am staying with my plan until my 6 wk post op appt. The pain overall is 3-4, down from 8-9 the week before surgery. I am off pain meds for the most part. I haven't been on my bike as yet - but plan to do a trainer session on Sat.

If you're going to do indoor bike training on your existing trainer/Kickr set up then rather than change your stem height/cockpit I just added Fat Gripz to my handlebars to increase the overall height to put me in a more upright position. The worst position you can be in post-op is any form of forward flexion so anything that makes you sit more upright in the short term will significantly help your recovery in the long term. Just search "Fat Gripz" on Amazon. You can just bend them around the handlebar.